Hi all,

I hope that everyone is continuing to enjoy the daily challenges being set by the coaches. The Coaches Challenge for Thursday is as follows :-

Challenge 9 – Batting round the clock

Equipment 1 tennis/soft ball ( you can use more if you have got them ), a bat and a target ( a tee is used in the demo, a plastic plant pot or plastic bottle would be fine)

Activity (click here for the demo):

i ) The objective of this challenge is to hit the ball towards a target which is placed at set positions to the numbers on a clock, so 12 o’clock will be hitting the ball straight back to the bowling. When that target is hit you then move the target to another position on the clock and repeat the task of hitting the ball at the new target. You carry on this exercise until you have hit all the targets at positions all around the clock.
ii ) The challenge will require a parent / other child to delivery the ball underarm to the batsman like in the demos.
iii) The challenge is split into 2 – Firstly, the challenge is to hit the ball at 12, 3, 6, 9 & 12 o’clock to finish in the least amount of shots. The ball does not need to hit the target if it goes really close that will count. Please be careful when trying to hit the ball to 6 o’clock as that is backwards ( called a ‘ramp’ shot ) and therefore could hit the batsman. You could do another number if you want instead. If you master the first challenge the advance challenge is to go around all the numbers of the clock starting with 1 through to 12 in the minimum amount of hits.

You can have as many goes as you like at the challenge.

Coaches Tips:

a) The batsman must move their feet to get into a better position to hit the ball in the direction of the target.
b) in addition to a) the batsman will also require to change the angle of the bat so the ball can go in the direction of the target
c) You dont need to hit the ball hard it just needs to go in the direction of the target – this challenge is all about accuracy & flexibility with the shot selection rather than power i.e aiming for a target is like finding the gaps between fielders in a cricket match.

Please email me by 7pm on Thursday 7 May with the following: –

a) Child’s name,
b) The number of shots taken to complete the first challenge ( hit 5 targets 12,3,6,9 &12 )
c) The number of shots taken to complete the second challenge ( hit 12 targets 1 through to 12)

Bonus points will be awarded to the individual(s) with the lowest score for each challenge.

Please let me know if you have any queries.

Many thanks and stay safe.

Carl & the coaching team

07397761268